Graham Ford: Want Dhananjaya de Silva to become a top-order batsman

Dhananjaya de Silva showing some good batting skills against South Africa in the Test series, selectors are backing him to push up the order, feels Lankan coach Graham Ford.

With Sri Lankan batsman Dhananjaya de Silva showing some good batting skills against hosts South Africa in the ongoing Test series, especially in the middle-order, the selectors are backing him to push up the order and make him a top-order batsman, feels Lankan head coach Graham Ford. De Silva has managed to play just six Tests so far, but has performed reasonably well, scoring 615 runs, along with an average of 55.90 till date. Owing to this performance of his, he is being considered as one of the top contenders to be promoted to bat at No.3 in the second Test at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town from Monday.

“I think the selectors were quite keen for him to spend quite a bit of time in his apprenticeship phase of Test cricket batting down the order with a view to him eventually becoming a top-order player. But with what we’ve got at the moment, in terms of requirements, it may mean that he has to go up the order earlier than initially planned. The pros of Dhananjaya remaining down the order definitely are that he’s performed fantastically there, and when we have got ourselves into trouble he’s got us out of trouble. Also he’s the last man of the group so he’s a calm man for pressure situations,” said Ford, reported ESPNCricinfo.

Live Cricket Scorecard, South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test at Cape Town

“On the temperament side – we saw when he came in at 20 for 5 (26 for 5) against Australia he played beautifully. On a number of occasions he’s been under big pressure and he’s handled it pretty well. But the balance of the side at the moment, when we play the extra seamer – we are one batter less. The danger of him batting down the order now is that he may run out of partners quicker than previously. That’s something to look at. He’s certainly showed that he’s well-equipped to handle batting up the order as well. It’s nice to know that we’ve got somebody that capable who can possibly slot in higher up the order,” he added.

Live Cricket Score, South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test at Cape Town, Day 1

“We’ve also seen him handle the second new ball well on a number of occasions and we know he has played in the top order in domestic cricket. There are a lot of good qualities in the young man,” he added again.

Speaking on Kusal Perera’s chances of being dropped, he said, “Before the tour there were quite a lot of discussions about batting orders with the selectors. Perhaps we felt that this was an order that we should be giving some sort of a run to. Those discussions continue. In these conditions we may well look to go with something different.”

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